Difference Between American Revolution And 1860

The Revolution of the United States between 1860 and 1877 Between the years of 1860, the year Abraham Lincoln was elected as President of the United States, and 1877, the end of the Reconstruction period, several monumental constitutional and social changes were made. Black slaves were freed, and blacks were now viewed as equals before the law. Blacks were granted citizenship and black men were given the right to vote. The Federal government gained much more power than the individual states. Each one of these changes was viewed as a significant development and combined they amounted to a revolution. Even though the government was not overthrown, the short timeframe in which these monumental changes were made led to this time period being labeled as a revolution. In 1860, the largest constitutional problem was how much power should be given to the states and the Federal Government. Most southern states strongly supported states’ rights because they thought they should have the right the nullify certain laws that were created by the North and would be unfavorable to them. For example in 1828 the Tarff of 1828, called the “Tariff of Abominations” by the South, was imposed by the North in order to protect northern industries. This tariff would …show more content…
In his speech to Congress on February 10, 1863 Senator Sherman said, “ The policy of this country ought to be to make everything national as far as possible; to nationalize our country so that we shall love our country.” Senator Sherman is saying here that everything should be run by the central government, and if this happens the country will become more united with people who love and support it. Sherman and much of the North supported the theory that if each state has too much power the country will never unite and without a strong central government the country would